JPS6333101B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an electrophoresis sample supply device used in an automatic electrophoresis apparatus.

[Prior Art] As shown in FIG. 4, a sample dish used in an automatic electrophoresis apparatus is one in which a plurality of sample dispensing recesses 1a are formed in one sample dish 1. A different sample 2 is included. A sample supply device for supplying the sample dish 1 while preventing moisture from evaporating from the sample 2 has been invented, for example, in Japanese Patent Application No. 57845/1984 filed by the present applicant. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the sample supply device has an upper opening 3a and an inner dimension that is approximately the same as an outer dimension of the sample dish 1, and a plurality of sample dishes 1.
can be stacked vertically and stored, and the front opening 3 is large enough to allow one sample dish 1 to pass through at the lower end.
b, and a sample plate storage container 3 installed on a support stand 4, a sample plate protection cover 5 placed on the uppermost sample plate 1, and a lowermost sample plate 1 placed on the front side. It is equipped with a piston-type sample transfer mechanism 6 for transferring the sample to the sample attachment position a through the opening 3b, and a receiving tray 7 for storing the used sample plate 1, and the sample transfer mechanism 6 moves the lowest sample plate 1 to the front opening. 3b and move it to the sample attachment position A, here the sample 2 is attached to the coating tip 9 of the sample applicator 8, and then at the sample coating position B, the sample 2 attached to the coating tip 9 is transferred onto the support 10. During this time, the sample transfer mechanism 6 is reactivated and the second sample plate 1, which is now at the lowest position, is pushed out to the sample attachment position A. At this time, the first sample that had been at the sample attachment position A is The plate 1 is pushed by the movement of the second sample plate 1 and falls into the receiving plate 7, and the above operation is repeated in sequence, and the sample plate 1 is moved while it is in the sample plate storage container 3. In other words, the protective cover 5 is closed until it is moved to the sample attachment position A.
Alternatively, a sealed state was maintained by the sample plate 1 stacked directly above, thereby preventing moisture from evaporating from the sample 2.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] This sample supply device drops the used sample plate 1 into the receiving tray 7 as described above, so the sample 2 cannot be reused for re-inspection, etc. There were flaws. In addition, since the tray 7 is located between the sample attachment position A and the sample application position B, both positions A and B
As a result, the moving time of the coating tip 9 between the two positions A and B becomes longer, and the sample 2 adhering to the coating tip 9 dries before it is coated on the support 10, making it difficult to measure. It also had the disadvantage of having a negative impact on the results.

The present invention has been made in view of the above drawbacks, and
An object of the present invention is to provide an electrophoresis sample supply device that can appropriately supply an electrophoresis sample.

[Means and effects for solving the problem] A sample plate having a plurality of recesses for storing a plurality of samples, and a plurality of sample plates stacked vertically and stored, with one sample plate passing through the bottom end. a sample plate storage container having an opening large enough to obtain a sample plate, a sample plate protection cover placed on top of the sample plate stored in the sample plate storage container, and passing the sample plate through the opening;
It has a sample plate transfer mechanism for transferring the sample to the sample attachment position and outside the sample plate storage container, and a sample plate cover that covers the sample plate transferred to the outside of the sample plate storage container. The sample plate can be transferred to the sample attachment position of the electrophoresis apparatus and outside the sample plate storage container while preventing moisture from evaporating.

[Example] One implementation of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIGS. 2A and 2B.

The same members as in FIGS. 4 and 5 will be described with the same reference numerals.

The sample dish 1' used in FIG.
As shown in Figures A and B, 1' has a plurality of sample dispensing recesses 1'a formed on the leading edge side of its top surface, and an inclined part 1'b formed on its rear edge. A sample plate, in which a pair of left and right engagement holes 1' are formed in the rear edge of the bottom surface, into which the upper end of a sample plate feed lever (described later) can be engaged;
3' is a sample plate storage container which has the same basic structure as the conventional sample plate storage container 3, but is further provided with a rear opening 3'c at its lower end large enough to allow one sample plate 1' to pass therethrough; Reference numeral 4' denotes a support stand which has the same basic structure as the conventional support stand 4, but is further provided with a pair of long left and right slots 4'a on its top wall, through which the upper end of a sample plate feed lever (described later) passes through. ' has the same basic structure as the conventional sample plate protection cover 5, but in addition, a pair of left and right engagement holes 5'a are formed on the rear edge side of the bottom surface, into which the upper end of the sample plate feed lever, which will be described later, can be engaged. This is a protective cover for the sample pan. Reference numeral 11 denotes a fixing member that is removably fixed on the support stand 4' near the rear of the sample plate storage container 3', and has a hole 11a in its lower end that is large enough to allow one sample plate 1' to pass through. , 12 is a horizontal support rod fixed to the fixed member 11 so as to extend rearward, and 13 is mounted on the support rod 12 so as to be movable up and down within a certain range. 4' from the top surface is usually lower than the position of the top surface of the sample plate 1' placed on the support stand 4 (thickness H of the sample plate 1'), and A plurality of sample pan covers are arranged in series facing toward the front. 14 is a support member fixed on the bottom wall of the support base 4', 15 is a vertical support shaft attached to the support member 14 so as to be movable up and down, 16 is an upper lever fixed to the upper end of the vertical support shaft 15, 17 , is a lower lever fixed to the lower end of the vertical support shaft 15, and 18 is an upper lever 1
A vertical support shaft 15, an upper lever 16, and a lower lever 17 are interposed between the support member 14 and the support member 14.
A spring 19 that gives the whole body the ability to move upward is fixed to the upper end of the support member 14, and includes a vertical support shaft 15, an upper lever 16, and a lower lever 17.
The stopper 20, which restricts the rise of the whole to a predetermined position, has a lower end 20a pivotally connected to the lower lever 17 so that the whole can swing in a vertical plane, and an upper end 20b of the stopper 20 that is attached to the support base 4'. A pair of left and right sample plates that penetrate through the slot 4'a and can be engaged with the engagement hole 1'c of the sample plate 1', and are provided with a longitudinally long slot 20c in the center thereof. The feed lever 21 is fixed at a predetermined position on the outer periphery of a disk 22 rotated by a motor (not shown), and its tip is connected to the slot 20c.
The drive pin is engaged with the drive pin. And disk 2
The upper end 20b of the sample feed lever 20 is moved by the displacement of the drive pin 21 due to the clockwise rotation in FIG.
is the reset position a (the position shown by the dotted line in FIG.
is also lowered by a stroke h from the raising restriction position. ), front dead center position b (position shown by the solid line in Figure 1. At this time, the drive pin 21 comes off the upper lever 16, so the sample feed lever 20 moves up by the stroke h due to the elasticity of the spring 18 and reaches the rise restriction position. ), rear dead center position c
(Fig. 1 - Position shown in dotted chain line. At this time, drive pin 2
1 has not yet pushed down the upper lever 16, the sample feed lever 21 remains at the upward restriction position. ) is made to swing and move up and down in sequence, and this is repeated. Further, the forward movement distance of the sample pan 1' from the front opening 3' due to the displacement of the upper end 20b of the sample feed lever 20 from the reset position a to the front dead center position b is determined by the front-to-back width W of the sample pan 1'. The sample dispensing recess 1'a of the sample dish 1' is also set to be sufficiently exposed from the sample dish storage container 3'. Further, the backward movement distance from the rear opening 3'c of the sample pan 1' due to the displacement of the upper end 20b of the sample feed lever 20 from the front dead center position b to the rear dead center position c is equal to the front-to-back width of the sample pan 1'. It is set to be larger than W.

Since the sample supply device according to the present invention is constructed as described above, if a large number of sample plates 1' are first sequentially inserted into the sample plate storage container 3' from the upper opening 3'a, then the upper opening 3'a and the inside Since the dimensions of are almost the same as the outer dimensions of the sample pan 1', the sample pans 1' always fall horizontally and are accurately stacked in the sample pan storage container 3'. Thereafter, the sample plate protective cover 5' is also inserted through the upper opening 3'a and placed on top of the uppermost sample plate 1'. At this time, the upper end 2 of the sample feed lever 20
0b is stopped at reset position a. Next, when the disk 22 is rotated, the drive pin 21 comes off from the upper lever 16, so the sample plate feed lever 20
The upper end 20b rises and engages with the engagement hole 1'c of the lowest sample pan 1', and then the upper end 20b moves to the front dead center position b, so the lowest sample pan 1' becomes a sample pan. The sample dispensing recess 1'a is moved forward through the front opening 3'b of the storage container 3' until it reaches the sample attachment position A. Then, as in FIG. 5, the sample 2 in the sample dispensing recess 1'a is attached to the tip 9 of the sample applicator 8, and the sample 2 attached to the tip 9 at the sample application position B is 2 is applied onto the support 10. In this case, since the forward movement distance of the lowest sample plate 1' from the front opening 3'b is set smaller than the front-to-back width of the sample plate 1',
The rear part of the lowest sample plate 1' remains in the sample plate storage container 3', and therefore the second and higher sample plates 1' from the bottom cannot be lowered. Next, the upper end 20b of the sample plate feed lever 20 moves to the rear dead center position, so that the lowest sample plate 1' to which the sample has been attached is moved to the rear opening 3'c of the sample plate storage container 3' and the fixing member 11. The sample plate cover 13 is moved backward through the hole 11a, and moved while pushing up the sample plate cover 13 by the action of the inclined portion 1'b of the sample plate 1'.
It will stop at the position that matches. And during this time,
The remaining sample pans 1' and protective cover 5' are lowered by one sample pan due to their own weight, and the second sample pan 1' is positioned at the lowest position. Subsequently, the upper end b of the sample plate feed lever 20 begins to move forward again, but at the same time, the drive pin 21 begins to push down the upper lever 16, so the upper end 20b begins to descend, and is lower than the forward movement. Since this is faster, the upper end 20b disengages from the engagement hole 1'c without moving the sample plate 1' forward and stops at the reset position a. In this way, by sequentially repeating the above operations, the sample 2 is supplied to all the sample plates 1' in the sample storage container 3', and all the sample plates 1' are covered with the sample plate cover 13 after the sample is attached. sent down. After the analysis is completed, the fixing member 11 supporting the sample plate cover 13 is moved to the horizontal support rod 1.
The used sample dish 1' is recovered by removing it together with the sample dish 2 from the support stand 4'.

During the above operation, each sample plate 1' in the sample plate storage container 3' is maintained in a sealed state by the protective cover 5' or the sample plate 1' placed directly above it.
This prevents moisture from evaporating from sample 2. Furthermore, since each sample plate 1' is sealed by the sample plate cover 13 even after the sample is attached, evaporation of moisture from the sample 2 is prevented. Further, in this state, evaporation of moisture from the used sample 2 is prevented, so the sample 2 can be reused for re-inspection or the like. Furthermore, sample attachment position A and sample application position B
Since there is no member located between them, both positions A and B
As a result, the moving time of the coating tip 9 is shortened, and the sample 2 attached to the coating tip 9 hardly needs to be dried before being coated onto the support 10. Further, until the back and forth movement of the lowest sample plate 1' is completed, the second and higher sample plates 1' in the sample plate storage container 3' are prevented from descending by the lowest sample plate 1' itself. Because of this structure, there is no need for a special mechanism for temporarily holding the second or more samples on the plate 1' and then allowing them to fall.

In the case of the above embodiment, in order to allow the sample plate 1' to fall horizontally into the sample plate storage container 3', the inner dimensions of the upper opening 3'a are made to be the same as the outer dimensions of the sample plate 1'. However, instead, as shown in FIG. 3, U-shaped recesses 1'd are provided at the left and right ends of the sample dish 1', and the recesses 1'd are provided on the left and right inner walls of the sample dish storage container 3'. A vertical guide (not shown) that can be fitted may also be provided.

As described above, according to the above embodiment, the evaporation of water from the sample in the sample pan is prevented not only before the sample is attached but also after the sample is attached, and furthermore, the sample attached to the coating destination is coated onto the support. Since it is not necessary to dry the sample until the sample is completely dried, it is possible to prevent sample concentration from affecting the measurement results. Further, even after the sample is attached, evaporation of moisture from the used sample in the sample dish is prevented, so the sample can be reused for reexamination, etc. Furthermore, since there is no need for a special mechanism for temporarily holding the second or more sample plates in the sample plate storage container and then allowing them to fall, it also has the advantage that the overall structure is relatively simple. .

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent moisture from evaporating from the sample in the sample dish and to transfer the sample dish to the sample attachment position of the electrophoresis apparatus and to the outside of the sample dish storage container.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
Figure A is a perspective view of one embodiment of the sample plate used in the present invention, Figure 2 B is a cross-sectional view of Figure 2 A, and Figure 3 is another embodiment of the sample plate used in the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a conventional sample dish, and FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a conventional sample supply device. A...Sample attachment position, 1'...Sample plate, 2...
Sample, 3'... Sample plate storage container, 20... Sample plate feed lever, 21... Drive pin, 22... Disc.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sample plate with multiple recesses for storing multiple samples, and a sample plate storage container that stores multiple sample plates stacked vertically and has an opening at the bottom end large enough for one sample plate to pass through. a sample plate protective cover placed on top of the sample plate stored in the sample plate storage container; and a sample plate for transferring the sample plate to the sample attachment position and outside the sample plate storage container through the opening. A sample supply device for electrophoresis, comprising a transfer mechanism and a sample plate cover that covers the sample plate transferred to the outside of the sample plate storage container.